Production Notes

I’d like to take a moment to talk about how I made these two documentaries; “Our Side of Joy” and “Charise: A Portrait of an African American with Albinism”. I’ve gotten some e-mails asking about equipment and process, etc.

Equipment for these two films:
This was obviously something I spent days and days planning because I was taking a plane down to Florida so I couldn’t take things I may have taken to a local shoot. This was by far the second most energy consuming task (the first being scheduling but I’ll talk about that later). I also have “Tressa’s law of traveling” which usually includes traveling with no more than one large luggage and something like a backpack. This was definitely not going to happen now that I’ve started filming when I travel. So let’s start with the equipment and then the bags/packing.

1 – Panasonic DVX100B
1 – Azden SGM-1X Shotgun Mic
3 – Smith-Victor light sockets
3 – Smith-Victor soft boxes
3 – Smith-Victor 8′ light stands
2 – 500 watt incandescent light bulbs
1 – 250 watt incandescent light bulb
2 – 105 watt Fluorescent light bulbs
1 – 65 watt Fluorescent light bulb
Stock Battery
9 Hr Battery
Camera Remote
Lens cleaning cloth
Logitech Noise Canceling Headphones
30 – Mini DV tapes
Pen for labeling tapes
Battery Charger
3 – Impact Light dimmers
Sticky Pod
Video Cables
Impact VT-2500 Tripod
2 – Sand bags
AA & AAA batteries
Power Strips
extension cords
Automatic pan/tilt head
Gaffer Tape
Script book
Rain cover

All of this stuff fit into two checked bags and one carryon. I decided to buy a hard carryon (Pelican) case to use when traveling from now on. In it is everything I need to film if my other bags are lost. Basically, my camera, all of the tapes, microphone w/cables, pan/tilt head, cleaning cloth, etc. Of course not the lights.

One checked bag was a medium sized luggage that I primarily used to carry my three light sockets and tripod head which were inside a hard case (Porta Brace) and some power cords, empty sand bags, ect. The second checked luggage was a kinda upright duffel bag made by JEEP. This is the most awesome bag on the planet and it is what I used to carry my gear around town once I was at my destination. This bag had my clothes in it along with my light stands, tripod legs, Sticky Pod, and light boxes, etc. All baggage was within airline weight limits. I shipped ALL of my light bulbs ahead of time via the US mail. I also shipped them back when I left (I did break one of the high wattage fluorescents while there but happened to find them in Light Bulbs Unlimited and nowhere else in Tampa or surrounding areas. Light Bulbs Unlimited didn’t even know they carried them.).

Once in Florida I put everything I needed for each shoot in the one JEEP bag which had wheels and a telescoping handle. I’d rented a PT Cruiser which initially I didn’t want but after getting it I quickly realized the incredible blessing it was. With the back seats pushed down, I found I didn’t have to break down my 3 light boxes anymore. I put all three, fully assembled in the back along with my JEEP bag full of my gear. Eventually I would leave the light boxes in there until I needed them. I was also able to film Charise’s beach interview sitting in the back of the PT Cruiser. She was sitting outside the car and I sat on the folded down seats inside the car (with the back door up of course). This way, my microphone was shielded from all of the wind and outside noise and I could get just her against the ocean in the background.

Everyone I interviewed were nice enough to help carry stuff and help setup. I was pretty thankful because it is time consuming if it’s just you filming. I would like to have a small crew next time.

Preparation for these films:
I originally was just going to film Charise but thought I’d ask Marlo and Michelle if I could do a doc about their lives anyway. I didn’t really expect them to say yes but they did! So then I went to work with setting up phone meetings and gathering information on everyone so I could determine what my stories were. From there I put together my questions. I like to cover as much as possible so I tend to have many many questions to ask.

The schedule was the most energy consuming task. Just because when you are setting up a schedule you are at the mercy of those you are interviewing. So if they have to wait for their work schedule, so do you. This can be taxing when you need to plan ahead to make sure your shoots will be as successful as possible. I was lucky enough to have Marlo and Michelle handle getting in touch with all of their family and scheduling them in on the days I could shoot. This was a tremendous help!

Honestly, I found that once I had all of my points covered, there wasn’t much else for me to pre-plan. For instance 1. Subjects to Interview, 2. Clear stories to tell, 3. Questions to ask, 4. Gear needed, 5. Schedule. Then it’s shooting time. I pre-worked how I thought the final films would be structured because I had time. I also setup photoshoots which can be added to the workflow for covering promotional material as well.

I was also fortunate because everyone stuck to the schedule and everything I had planned went exactly on time. It was the most incredible film shoot I could ask for. And I had tons of fun with friends I hadn’t seen in a very long time. :)